


I know everything will end

by PseudAnon



Series: The truth you find won't take you far [1]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Child Death, Choking, Death, Descriptive Violence, Episode: s01e26 Auld Acquaintance, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Loss, Murder, Strangulation, please mind the tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 20:18:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19303090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PseudAnon/pseuds/PseudAnon
Summary: "It's time to put these children in their place, once and for all."In which the league was not limited by whoever was pulling their strings, and the cure took a little too long to work. AU of Auld Acquaintance.





	I know everything will end

**Author's Note:**

> Please check the bottom A/N for information on the story that you might not understand or might have missed. Hopefully it should clear any confusion up for you. It's at the bottom to avoid spoilers, I guess? Also, I apologise if I got any details of what happened in the fights on the watchtower wrong, I tried really hard to get it right, but I'm still not sure if I got it completely. I don't really know all that much about Rocket's powers either, so if I got anything wrong, I apologise for that as well. I've never written action before, so some of it might be timed wrong or written badly. I don't think most of the scenarios here last 5-10 minutes, but oh well.
> 
> Title from 'Stream' by Last Dinosaurs

_"I'm amazed we're still alive..." "It's 'cause they're being controlled. They're limited by whoever's pulling their strings; The very thing putting us in danger- it's the only thing giving us a chance!"_

_"The children have clearly reverse-engineered a starro-tech cure and vaccine; so, there's no point in taking them alive."_

 

\---

 

The first thing Batman felt as he came to was a dull, aching pound running through his head. He did a lightning fast assessment of his body, probing for injuries. He quickly found that his jaw and nose ached, possibly broken. His ribs and stomach also ached, but his armour had held true and as such, he could not feel anything beyond maybe a bruise or two that would form there. He felt numerous smaller scratches and scrapes along various parts of his face and body, but nothing serious.

Screwing his eyes even more tightly shut, he suppressed a groan of discomfort and focused on relaxing his body, getting a feel of his surroundings, wherever he was. Oddly enough, he could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage and the rushed feeling of adrenaline wearing off- meaning he was recently in a stressful situation. He could still feel his hands shaking.

The ground beneath him was hard, no sign of dirt or any loose parts. Not a bed, but not anything like a gurney or a stretcher. He was lying still on this ground, that felt distinctly more like a floor than the ground. Indoors, then. Further investigation revealed that it was fairly silent, save for a soft whirring one might hear in the background of a science lab and some soft, laboured breathing close by to him. It was only when he felt the tell-tale floaty pull of artificial gravity did Batman realise he was lying on the ground in some part of the Watchtower.

With this in mind, Batman carefully pried his eyes open just enough to see, but so much so that it would still look as if he were unconscious if anyone were to look at him. The small blessings of having white lenses in your cowl.

With this action, he deduced that he was indeed in the Watchtower, if the curtain of stars behind a thick sheet of specially enhanced glass was anything to go by. At this, Batman opened his eyes fully and sat up, placing a hand on his head as the dull pounding came back as a full-force headache. He did a quick scan of the room he was in and found Superman, knocked out, not too far from where Batman had been lying. The room was empty aside from the two heroes, and so Batman stood up and strode swiftly up to the Man of Steel to check that he was okay. It seemed that he was, but some bruises blossoming on his face meant that he had been exposed to Kryptonite, probably by whoever had rendered them unconscious. That was slightly worrying. He only knew of a few people who even had access to Kryptonite.

Standing back up from where he had been knelt by Superman's side, Batman decided it would probably be a good idea to try and contact someone, though he suspected that nobody would be available if nobody had come to their aid already. A quick tap to his com confirmed this, as the only response he got was static.

Turning around back to Superman, Batman noticed something odd out of the corner of his eye. There was a sizeable dent in the floor, and across from it, the ground had been slightly torn up, signifying something had dragged across it. Not wasting any more time, Batman followed the trail of destruction. At the end, he found a forceful hole breaking through the ground, leading directly to the floor below. Batman frowned. Something big had happened here, but his mind was enshrouded in fog and he was having trouble recalling anything that happened after the League recruitment celebration.

 

\---

 

Batman burst into the monitor room of the Watchtower, dragging an unconscious Superman behind him. He raised his eyebrows at the sight that greeted him; a slew of Leaguers were strewn about the room in various places, some slumped against the walls, some with their heads lolling on the back of the monitor duty chairs, but all of them were unconscious. Batman's suspicion flew through the roof; it must have taken something serious to cause such a large number of Leaguers to be rendered unconscious in such a state. He figured that only he had woken up as soon as he did because he had made sure he was largely immune to every sort of sleep-inducer commonly used by criminals and villains. If it was an unconventional method of putting him out, he had extensive specialized training that allowed him to come to himself faster than the average person. The fact that he had been put to sleep at all, however, was discomforting to him, and he quickly laid Superman down next to an unconscious Plastic Man in order to get to the bottom of this sooner.

He checked all the Leaguers' pulses- all of them were alive, but their breathing was shallow, the same as Superman. Deciding to test something, he made his way back over to the Man of Steel and pulled some smelling salts out from his belt, waving them under his nose.

Superman started, but did not wake. Batman tried this with every other Leaguer, but had no luck. He placed the salts back in his belt slowly- whatever had put them to sleep had definitely not been natural. Some kind of technology, perhaps? There was only one way to find out, the reason he had come here in the first place.

Batman approached the large computer screens that connected to the many cameras in the Watchtower, currently displaying only static. It seemed that someone had disabled the security systems of the Watchtower, but Batman had installed his own security systems when he was helping to build it that were not connected to the main system. A few quick keystrokes later, and Batman was granted full view of the League's hangar. A quick sweep of the room showed nothing unusual, and so he switched quickly to the next screen. He continued this until he came to the security feed of one of the cargo holds.

Lying on the ground in uncomfortable looking positions were the Flash, Aquaman and Green Arrow, clearly unconscious in the same fashion as all the Leaguers in the monitor room. The fact that the Flash had not come to yet confirmed to Batman that they had not been drugged, as his fast metabolism would have taken care of that long before Batman could have woken up. Just as he was about to switch screens however, something caught his eye.

Lying on the ground a short way away from the two Leaguers, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Artemis were strewn in a violent manner.

Against his better judgment, Batman's eyes widened and he felt his heart stop and his stomach go cold.

Zooming in and enhancing the quality of the feed, Batman quickly found with a horror he had never felt before that there was no way the teen heroes were alive.

Kid Flash was lying eerily still, slumped against some wooden crates. His legs were bloody and mangled, and there were two arrows sticking out of his chest in vital places, while one was stuck in deeply at the base of his throat. A very slow trickle of blood was leaking from his mouth and down his chin, catching on the arrow in his throat and dripping off the feathered end. Batman realised with a lurch of his stomach that the feathers were now a deep red colour as opposed to their regular green.

Batman smashed down any rising emotions he might have been feeling and trained his gaze on the next closest hero.

The figure next to Kid Flash was identified as Aqualad by the water-bearers lying broken in a puddle of water next to him. Aqualad was lying with his face to the floor, hands spread out in a last-minute reach for his dropped weapons. His shirt had been burnt off, revealing the skin on his back to be charred an ugly red colour, the redness spreading outward from a large, black patch right in the centre. The remains of several explosive arrows lay next to him, still smoking. His head was bent at an unnatural angle, his neck obviously having been broken.

Batman once again ignored the wave of violent nausea that momentarily passed through him, and forced his eyes to the last teen hero in the room.

Artemis was lying on her side against the outer-door, a large splatter of blood glinting against the metal slightly above where her head was. One of her arms clutched loosely at her other arm; it was mangled in the same fashion as Kid Flash's legs, rendering her unable to use her bow. Her head was leaking a suspicious looking clear fluid on the ground from underneath where it lay, ugly dark bruises mattering her forehead. Her mouth was parted, the bottom corner of her lips and face stained red from the slow stream of blood that leaked from it. Her quiver and bow lay meters away from her, her arrows scattered haphazardly over the floor.

Batman felt his heart lurch, and took a step back. The scene was by no means the goriest thing he had ever seen in his time as a vigilante, but it was perhaps the most horrifying. The three Leaguers, in comparison to the teen heroes, seemed fine. Green Arrow and Aquaman had some mildly severe looking bruises on their faces, and Flash didn't even have that.

If... If Kid Flash, Aqualad and Artemis were there, quite obviously having been murdered brutally, then where was...?

A new feeling surfaced in Batman's heart; one he had only felt a few times before in his life. A pure, cold, unrelenting terror gripped at him, and he couldn't stop his hands from shaking as he clicked off the feed to the next feed.

If those three were there, where was the rest of the Team?

Where was Dick?

Batman scanned the next screen that came up quickly, and upon finding it disturbingly clear after the carnage of the previous screen, switched screens again. His heart sped up as he was greeted with the sight of Wonder Woman, lying unconscious on her back, seemingly unscathed.

The teen next to her though...

Rocket lay still not too far away from the Amazonian warrior, her belt broken beside her. Not a drop of blood was on the floor, but her dark hair shined with it in the light. Her head was smashed in.

Batman quickly flipped screens again, the terror growing fiercer.

This time there was no reprieve of an empty screen beforehand, so Batman was immediately greeted with the sight of three unconscious Leaguers and one maimed teen. Captain Marvel and Doctor Fate lay slumped against a destroyed looking wall, and Icon lay across the ground, near the exit to a connecting hallway. Zatanna lay meters away from them, her face purple, eyes rolled back and foam leaking from her mouth. Closer inspection revealed blackened, swollen finger-shaped bruises blossoming around her throat, little welts of blood where fingernails had sunk in at the end of each one.

Strangled into silence and then choked to death.

Batman quickly switched screens again.

This time, there were three blank screens before he came across the next one. This one's camera lens had been cracked, a spider web blooming out from the direct centre.

Martian Manhunter was floating serenely in place, his eyes closed. He looked to be in some sort of trance, and Batman assumed it was a Martian way of healing himself.

Next to him lay some sort of white monster, a thick black liquid leaking from various places in its body. It's pupil-free red eyes were wide open, and one of its long limbs seemed to have been scorched off somehow. Various other patches of skin were burnt to a crisp, and it was curled around it's middle, where a vicious wound was leaking the tar-like, thick black stuff onto the ground. Batman numbly noted it looked like a stab wound, but there was no weapon visible anywhere around it. However, the scorched remains of fire arrows lay scattered near it. Fire arrows with distinctly red feathers. Despite this, Red Arrow was nowhere to be seen.

He had no doubt in his mind that the white creature was M'gann, if what J'onn had said about White Martians was true. He once again squashed down the bile rising in his throat.

Only Superboy and Robin were unaccounted for now, and his hand was having trouble remaining steady on the mouse.

With considerable effort, he switched screens again. He barely noticed in the background when he heard the distant groans of some Leaguers; he just kept switching screens.

 _Dick..._ not there.

 _Dick..._ not there.

 _Dick..._ not there.

Like a mantra in his head, he kept repeating his son's name at every new screen. His heart pounded painfully in his chest.

Where was he?

Batman didn't dare let himself hope. He felt a small hole start to claw itself at his heart.

He wasn't sure he would be able to live with himself after this, even _if_ Dick was okay.

But if he wasn't...

The second last screen that came on before it looped back to the hangar was one of the wide-open terraces overlooking a large part of the Watchtower. Not too far from where he and Superman had been. Batman's head spun.

Superboy lay off to the side on his stomach, spread-eagled on the floor. His head was turned to the side, his face open in a mix of pain and shock. The veins across his body pulsed an ugly, neon green, spreading out like a spiderweb from the base of his neck where a glowing green chunk of rock was jammed. The edges where it entered his neck leaked Kryptonian blood.

He heard more groans behind him and the sounds of someone pushing themselves up when Batman saw him.

He lay on the other side of the room to Superboy, deathly still and slumped against the wall. His head rested on his shoulder, the lenses of his mask wide against some ugly purple and black bruising spreading across his face. The tough Kevlar of his uniform had been ripped to shreds, and multiple deep cuts were visible across his chest, leaking blood much too slowly. His throat was pale against some finger-shaped bruises, though not as severe as Zatanna's had been. His belt had been torn off, broken in half, its contents spilled across the floor; but that wasn't what immediately caught Batman's attention, oh no.

What caught his attention was the batarang sticking out of the centre of his son's chest, and the multiple others that were strewn around, glinting with a red sheen in the fluorescent lights of the Watchtower.

Batman's world fell out underneath him, and he began to fall into the abyss it left as he heard horrified gasps behind him and felt a hand grab his shoulder.

 

\---

 

The Leaguers all gathered in the monitor room, a crushing silence overwhelming them. Some were sobbing quietly; some sat staring at the floor, their eyes wide. Some stared at others in pity. Black Canary was nowhere to be found.

Red Arrow clutched his head, leaning against a wall and breathing heavily through clenched teeth. Green Arrow stood near him; his face mournful. He rested a hand on his protégé's shoulder, too much in shock himself to do anything more. Nearby him, the Flash was openly sobbing into his hands and Aquaman stood stone-still, his head down.

Flash, Green Arrow, Aquaman, and all the others who had been with the _(dead)_ teen heroes when they woke up were not faring well at all. The bodies of six teens lay in the next room. Only Superboy and Robin remained unmoved, as nobody had been there to bring them back.

Superman stood before the Justice League, the pitiful bunch they were. He let out a slow, heavy sigh, and then took a shaky breath.

"So…" he began gravely, glancing to a dark presence looming in the corner of the room. "...it's confirmed that none of us have any memory of what took place?"

He was greeted with silence. He glanced to Wonder Woman, who, after looking to him with heavy eyes, nodded her head in confirmation.

Superman sighed again.

"It then follows," he said, "That we need to find out."

He glanced at the disabled Red Tornado that someone had brought in and placed on a chair.

"...Red Tornado... disabled the security systems, but..." He glanced back at the silent figure in the corner again, "...Batman had backup. So," he continued, turning in his chair to face the massive computer monitor, the video feed still trained on the gruesome sight of the only two boys nobody had retrieved.

Superman cringed, and his hands started to shake.

"We need to see what happened as soon as possible," he whispered, "To make sure that the threat is truly gone, and who is responsible for..." He trailed off, his eyes staring into the middle of the floor on the screen, the two mangled bodies clear in his peripheral. He took another breath, and braced himself.

"I would please request any of you who were not present at any scene in question to leave the room while the others of us review the footage." He glanced around. "We'll... we'll make a cut version for us all to review afterwards."

The Leaguers who were being addressed nodded and got up without complaint; some sent sorrowful looks to those who remained as they went out the door. Red Arrow, however, did not budge. Superman decided to overlook this, not in the mood for an inevitable fight if he were to request for him to leave.

Those left in the room were Superman, Batman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow & Red Arrow, Wonder Woman, Doctor Fate, Icon and Martian Manhunter. Superman noted that Captain Marvel was not present, but decided to overlook this too. There were just some things that 10-year-olds, even ones in the Justice League, should not be subjected to seeing.

"...T-the computers are designed to filter out any inactivity from security footage, s-so..." he stammered to his reduced audience, the tremor in his hands traveling to his voice. "We'll g-get a complete play-by-play of what exactly h-happened. The security cameras will show us all the action that took place, but w-we'll be able to switch its focus and rewind or fast-forward it at any tttt-time."

Superman closed his eyes and let out a devastated sigh, before pressing a few keys and sitting back in his chair.

The screen buzzed with static.

 

\---

 

**FOUR HOURS EARLIER**

Young Justice ran out of the Zeta-tubes connecting to the Watchtower on high alert, dragging a disabled Red Tornado behind them. He was hurriedly placed in a nearby open broom closet; the cure they had given him would not work for another hour or two at least, and nobody wanted to be responsible for watching over him. Robin glanced around, then signalled for Miss Martian to link them up.

 _"Everybody online?"_ She asked, drawing up her hood and camouflaging herself.

A chorus of 'Yes' and 'Yep's echoed through the eight teens' heads. The Team had only just escaped the cave in the Bio-ship before Captain Marvel, Icon and Doctor Fate had seen them. Aqualad figured that they had a few minutes at most before they finished searching every inch of the cave and came back here.

Robin took over, him being the most technologically knowledgeable and aware of the most facts to do with the cure-o-tech that their team of scientists had hastily thrown together.

 _"Alright team,"_ he began, _"As we saw with Black Canary and Red Tornado, the cure-o-tech doesn't take effect immediately, so we had to leave her in the bio-ship and bring him over here."_

Robin glanced at the open broom closet.

_"I would estimate there would be something close to a 5-10-minute delay before the chip we give fully integrates into the recipient's nervous system- that means we have to get in, give the cure, and get out. They'll still be coherent and active until that 5-10-minute window is done, when they'll go unconscious and the cure will start to take effect. Even though Serling and the others didn't have enough time to make the cure immediately active, I did ask her to program a beacon of sorts; as soon as anybody gets the chip put into them, it overrides commands from the starro-tech and they'll be forced to go to the monitor room. The monitor room is the room in the watchtower with the strongest radio and electric signals being sent to and from it, so they're attracted to that. However..."_

Here, Robin took in a shaky breath, despite speaking mentally. " _I'm not sure if the programming telling them to go to the monitor room is strong enough to override any commands to pursue a target. That means we have to get away as fast as possible. I don't know about you guys,"_ He glanced at his team, who were all watching him with apt attention. _"But I REALLY don't want to run away from the Justice League for any extended period of time."_ He took another deep breath. " _Any questions?"_

There were none, and Robin received several serious nods in understanding.

" _Great,"_ He said. " _This is primarily a stealth mission, which we quite obviously excel at. Do not engage! We need to get moving before the three of them,"_ He motioned to the zeta-tubes, _"Come back. Move out!"_

The Team split off into pairs; none of them were willing to go through a Watchtower crawling with infected Leaguers alone, and none of them were willing to let anyone else go alone.

 

\---

 

_Superman and the other Leaguers watched in silence as their protégés successfully placed some sort of microchip in the necks of Plastic Man, Atom, Captain Atom and Hawkman without being seen. It was no secret that the teens had been communicating mentally, so they weren't able to get much information on what was going on through their commentary. After the chips had been planted, the Leaguers had started moving toward the monitor room, and further investigation revealed that they remained there, doing nothing, until they collapsed anywhere from five to ten minutes later. Interestingly, the cameras did not pick up any sign of Batman, Superman, Hawkwoman, Green Lantern John Stewart, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter or Black Canary. The other Leaguers were spotted in various places through the feeds, but there was no sign of those seven._

_Superman flipped the focus throughout the rooms until he came across a very interesting scene. Vandal Savage and Klarion the Witch Boy were on the rooftop of the Watchtower, Klarion floating in front of what looked like a red holo-computer control panel. Hal Jordan was also there, passively waiting off to the side. His face was blank, and he did not react to anything either of the two villains did._

_Suddenly, Klarion started and a snarl grew on his features. "_ The brats are aboard! They've taken away four of my toys!" _He exclaimed._

_Superman frowned. Toys? It seemed that the League was being controlled by Klarion, then. Though why did the cure involve microchips? Perhaps the method of control also involved technology? That would explain why Klarion was using a control panel, and not doing it with his mind or through magic like he usually would._

_Vandal Savage turned around to face Klarion._ "Recall all League away missions," _He said, his face in a vicious snarl._ "It's time to put these children in their place, once and for all."

"Finally!" _Smirked Klarion, tapping some buttons on his panel._

_Superman felt the dark presence in the corner shift, and then Batman was next to him. "League away missions?" He asked gruffly, pointedly ignoring the comment about the children, but Superman could hear the man's heart going a mile a minute and felt him shaking next to him. From rage or something else, he wasn’t sure._

_Vandal Savage's mouth twisted into a poisonous smirk, as a boom tube opened up behind him and Martian Manhunter, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, John Stewart and finally Batman, flew out to stand before him. Klarion swiped a few things on his control panel, and soon, Hal Jordan joined them._

_Vandal Savage walked down the line of Leaguers, all of whom stand at apt attention._

"The children have clearly reverse-engineered a starro-tech cure and vaccine; so, there's no point in taking them alive," _He exclaimed._ _He turned to Klarion._ "Stop manual control," _He ordered,_ "Let them fight to the fullest of their abilities. Your control will not allow that. You know they will continue to follow verbal commands, and that should be enough; we cannot let these children out of here while they still breathe."

_Klarion pouted childishly, but obligeed. The Leaguers lined up stand straighter, more alert._

_Superman starts to shake at the sight of himself, and Batman smashes his fist down on the keyboard._

 

\---

 

After she and Miss Martian had successfully cured Atom without being seen and made sure that he was headed to the monitor room, Zatanna hurried back to the zeta-tubes where they had entered to wait for her father and the other two he was with, Miss Martian close behind. She wanted to be there to make sure her father got cured...

Zatanna looked around, and upon seeing nobody but Miss Martian, allowed herself a small sigh. She... she really missed her dad. Maybe... maybe she could get the helmet off of him if she stuck around and waited until he was unconscious? She knew it was dangerous, but...

She really, really missed her dad.

Her decision made, she silently positioned herself behind a yellow storage tank while Miss Martian re-camouflaged and brought herself down right above the zeta-tubes, levitating three cure-o-tech chips. Soon enough, Aqualad and Rocket joined them, Rocket levitating above where Miss Martian was and Aqualad behind another yellow storage container. There was no time to catch their breath before the three Leaguers entered.

" _Recognised: Captain Marvel, 1-5, Icon, 2-0, Doctor Fate, 1-7,_ "

Miss Martian floated stealthily down from above, quickly placing a chip onto the neck of Doctor Fate, causing him to convulse slightly then whirl around. Icon noticed this however, and was quick to melt the other two chips being held by Miss Martian's telekinesis. The blast travelled to her and smashed her into the wall behind, but she managed to retain her camouflage so she wouldn't be targeted.

While Icon was turned around, Rocket floated down behind him and placed a chip on his neck, then quickly floated back up to avoid being seen. He too convulsed a little, then upon seeing nothing except a crumbling wall and his fellow Leaguers, began walking steadily in the direction of the monitor room.

At this, Zatanna stepped out from behind her storage container, aiming her focus on Captain Marvel, who was still examining the spot Miss Martian landed.

 _"Trulb tuo-"_ She starts to say, but is cut off abruptly when she's slammed into by a blast from Doctor Fate. She lets out a shriek and falls to the ground, and the other two Leaguers turn around and train their gazes on her.

Taking his cue, Aqualad jumps out from behind his storage container, water-bearers turned into giant hammers and tattoos glowing. Rocket floats down from the roof as well, and both of them move quickly before the Leaguers can take action.

" _Miss Martian,"_ Says Aqualad, positioning his hammers to guard as Captain Marvel rushes him. " _Remain camouflaged and see if you can get a chip in the Captain while he is distracted. We will do the distracting. Rocket, Zatanna, aim to immobilise."_

All parties give their agreement, Zatanna rolling frantically on the floor to avoid more blasts from Doctor Fate.

Aqualad swings his electrified hammers out from the guard position at Captain Marvel, who takes the hit with a grunt and crashes into the wall. Icon sends a blast at Aqualad in retaliation, but Rocket quickly envelopes Icon in one of her shields and the blast rebounds, hitting him square in the chest. He hits the edge of her bubble, knocked out.

Rocket releases her bubble and flies quickly toward Zatanna and Doctor Fate, aiming a blast at the Lord of Order that sends him flying into the wall, next to Captain Marvel who was just getting up. Miss Martian, seeing her chance, flies silently above the Captain, density shifting into the wall behind him. She lowers herself and quickly sticks her hand out, successfully implanting a chip into his neck.

" _Done,"_ Says Miss Martian, floating back up, still in camouflage mode.

" _Good Job,"_ Says Aqualad, running back to Captain Marvel before he can get up fully. He changes his water-bearers into two long, snaking whips, and charges them with electricity. He swings them quickly at Captain Marvel while Rocket creates a bubble around Doctor Fate, keeping him in place.

Captain Marvel lets out a shout upon being electrocuted by the whips, but does not get knocked out by it. Zatanna gets up from her place on the floor.

" _Peels!!"_ She shrieks frantically, and Captain Marvel slumps to the ground, asleep.

" _Now!"_ Yells Miss Martian.

Rocket releases her bubble around Doctor Fate, and Miss Martian sends a quick blast of telekinetic energy at close range, knocking him out.

The dust settles, and Aqualad carefully takes a step forward toward the two Leaguers slumped against the wall. Captain Marvel lets out a snore.

Aqualad slowly sheaths his water-bearers while Rocket and Miss Martian float down from the ceiling. Zatanna cautiously steps closer to Doctor Fate. They all stop and stare at the three Leaguers.

" _Hey, if you guys aren't busy!"_ Yells Kid Flash suddenly through the mind link.

" _On my way,"_ Informs Aqualad, before turning to the remaining three. " _You three rendezvous with Robin and Superboy,"_

He receives nods of confirmation, and quickly rushes off to aid Kid Flash and Artemis.

" _I'll be right behind you!"_ Calls Zatanna, and Miss Martian and Rocket give her a nod and fly off.

She turns wistfully back to the unconscious Doctor Fate, taking another careful step forward, not noticing Icon beginning to stir behind her.

 

\---

 

_Icon feels sick as he watches himself on the video feed, getting up from the blast to the chest he took. The teens, especially Rocket, should have known he had an increased recovery time if he was hit with the energy type his own blasts use._

_Zatanna on the feed is now kneeling by her father, reaching out to touch the helmet that entrapped him. Icon, behind her, draws to his full height and rushes the girl, slamming her into the wall with an audible crunch. She lets out a strangled shriek of pain, but Icon silences her quickly by grabbing her throat in an iron grip._

_Icon closes his eyes and turns around, an ugly feeling of shame and guilt burning in his stomach. He feels bile rise up in his throat as the sounds of a little girl getting strangled echo from the monitor._

_He unclenches his fists and stares at his palms._

_Not even a drop of blood on them, not a single one._

_Zatanna on the monitor scrabbles at Icon's large hands completely encircling her neck, letting out feeble wheezes as her face turns purple. She scratches at him, kicking her legs out to hit him- he barley feels it; her eyes roll back and her hands fall uselessly to her sides. She lets out one last, mangled sounding gasp before she goes silent; but Icon doesn't let go because she's still trembling. He holds her there for another minute at least, until her trembling grows lethargic and stops completely, a thin stream of spit foaming out from her blue lips. Icon gives her one last violent shake for good measure, then throws her across the room where she hits the ground with a thump. She does not cry out, and lays completely still, and Superman cannot hear a heartbeat through the screen._

_Icon on the monitor stares at her; watching for even the vaguest sign of life. None comes, and when he is confident that she is dead, he turns around and begins toward the hallway that leads to the quickest route to the monitor room._

_Just before he reaches the exit, he convulses again; in the corners of the feed, Captain Marvel and Doctor Fate do the same. Icon collapses to the floor as the cure-o-tech takes full effect, releasing the three Leaguers from the control of Klarion, destined to wake hours later because the cure is too slow to take effect any sooner._

_\---_

Aqualad rushes down the hall toward a cargo bay, where Kid Flash and Artemis are locked in a deadly battle with their mentors. He knows the others will be fine on their own; they're smart enough not to engage in combat and to get the cure-o tech chips in as quickly as possible.

He sees the flash of an explosion from down the hall, and a shout that sounds like it's from Artemis.

" _I'm amazed we're still alive,"_ He hears from her over the mind link. " _We have to keep moving if we want it to stay that way;"_ Replies Kid Flash. Aqualad feels a surge of confidence that he can help them, and runs faster.

He reaches the cargo bay in record time, running through the open door. To his surprise, not only are Flash and Green Arrow there, but so is his King. Aquaman.

He must not fail tonight, because if he fails here, he fails all of Atlantis.

" _Artemis, Kid!"_ He shouts, quickly closing and locking the airtight door. But before he can say 'Now!', an explosive arrow hits his back, and he feels the back of his shirt burn as he gets flung back into the door and across the wall. He feels his water-bearers fly off his back to somewhere into the middle of the room.

Artemis shouts "AQUALAD!" Out loud at the same time Kid Flash shouts "KALDUR!", and he must have blacked out for a second because the next thing he sees is from an angle that can only mean he's lying on the floor.

Kid Flash rushes Green Arrow, who's aiming another arrow right where Aqualad is. Green Arrow goes flying into Aquaman, who was just about to grab Artemis in an Atlantean death-grip. They both crash against some wooden crates at the side of the room. Artemis runs over to them in order to plant the cure, while Kid Flash swaps his focus to his uncle, who is speeding around the room, picking up any arrows Green Arrow or Artemis may have dropped. Aqualad struggles to get up, the heat from the explosion and the burns on his back making him significantly weaker.

He hears Kid Flash successfully tackle his uncle into the wall opposite the crates, just as Artemis yells that she's given the cure to Aquaman. This fills Aqualad with a surge of relief; his King will be okay.

Now filled with more confidence, Aqualad pushes himself up from the floor and shakily jogs over to his dropped weapons. He picks them up just in time for Kid Flash to announce that he's got the cure in the Flash and Artemis yells that Green Arrow's taken care of not a second later.

The Flash shoves Kid Flash back quite harshly; Kid Flash slams into Aqualad in the centre of the room and they both go crashing to the floor. Aquaman takes this as a cue to leap up out of the crate pile he was in, using his Atlantean strength to leap high enough to brush the ceiling. Aqualad sees this and rolls out of the way; but Kid Flash doesn't.

Aquaman lands with a _crrrruuuuuunnncchhhh_ that sounds loudly around the room for a second, right on top of Kid Flash's legs. Kid Flash lets out a screech of agony that morphs into a sob that cuts off with a choke; Aquaman leaps off of him, and before Aqualad or Artemis can react, he picks up the speedster and throws him back toward the crates where Aquaman had come from not even seconds before.

"WALLY!" Screams Artemis as he flies past where she had entered a stand-off with Green Arrow and hits the wall behind. She whips around in rage; Aqualad feels a similar rage begin to course through him, and he gets up from the ground and shapes his water-bearers into large, flat-edged swords, good for attacking and defending, as the Flash runs at an invisible speed toward him. He successfully blocks the lightning-fast charge, but doesn't have enough time to parry and ends up blocking another, equally as fast charge not even a second later.

Aqualad continues with this as Artemis abandons her stand-off with Green Arrow and turns her focus to Aquaman; Kid Flash is slumped over some crates in the corner, unconscious. Artemis dodges a flurry of arrows from behind as she backflips over the crates and runs around the blur that is Flash and Aqualad. She reaches the Atlantean king and pulls out a fire arrow; but Aquaman is faster once again, and charges forward and grabs her arm. She shrieks in shock and tries to yank her arm away; but Aquaman's grip is iron-clad, and he twists.

The resulting series of snaps and crunches that sound alarmingly loud throughout the room elicits a scream of pain from Artemis; Aqualad can't risk turning around to check on her well-being because he's still being hounded on all sides by the Flash.

Aquaman shakes Artemis once before forcefully ripping off the bow and quiver of arrows around her chest and back, throwing them far away from her, where she has no hope of reaching them again.

 

 

\---

 

_The Flash is sobbing harder into his hands as the footage plays; Green Arrow is behind him now, teeth clenched and shaking violently as tears roll thickly down his face. Red Arrow has a hand on his shoulder, the other clenched at his side so hard his knuckles are white. Aquaman has turned away, unwilling and unable to continue watching the disgrace that was occurring in front of him._

_On the screen, Aquaman lifts up Artemis' shaking form by her mangled arm, eliciting another moan of pain from her._

_Aquaman, not seeing but still hearing everything quite clearly, knows that he is the one who has Artemis on the screen. He hurriedly unclenches the fists at his sides. His fists were over her wrist not so long ago. He can feel his stomach churning as he stares at them._

_The feed continues. Aquaman jumps up in the air to get a greater throwing angle, draws his arm back and launches her toward the far door. Artemis doesn't even have the breath left to scream as her head hits it directly with another crack, and she quickly falls to the ground, her head hitting the lower part of the door before she slumps to lay on her side, leaving an ugly blood splatter. Her arm makes one last weak grab at her other arm before it falls limp. She doesn't move again._

_Green Arrow makes a choking noise next to the Flash, causing him to waver in his sobs and look up. Red Arrow lets out a howl that could have been a sob when it catches on his breath, and Aquaman stares uncomprehendingly._

_Aqualad on the feed, hearing these worryingly violent noises, turns his head toward his teammate. His eyes widen as he spots her, freezing him in place. This minute distraction is enough to let the Flash get the upper hand instantly; before Aqualad can even register what's going on, he's being grabbed by a red blur, his arms flung up over his head and wrists being twisted, forcing him to drop his weapons. The Flash tackles him roughly to the ground, pressing his face into the floor. Aqualad makes a last reach for his weapons. Flash wastes no more time, grabbing either side of Aqualad's head and twisting quickly._

_The only solace is that it was so fast, it was probably painless._

_Aquaman continues staring at the screen, his chest aching deep and painful. His loyal student is dead. He looks down at his hands again. The same hands that had recently thrown a friend and teammate of said loyal student into a wall, killing her. Red Arrow's breathing has become fast and shallow._

_Aquaman thinks he deserves this._

_Flash, next to him, grips his head hard, his hands trembling. He can feel it. He can feel the speed waiting in his wrists, to twist, just like he had done on this teenager. He knows the exact amount of force that would be required to do it effectively, killing immediately. He could do it to himself, right now, right this second, and he wasn't sure he would have stopped himself if Green Arrow's hands hadn't gently guided his own down from his temples. Green Arrow's hands were shaking too, a rare sight for the best archer in history. It doesn't even make him feel better. He just feels empty, empty, empty._

_On the feed, Aqualad's dropped weapons, now lacking the magic needed to hold them together, lose their sword form and become two puddles of ordinary water with black handles in the middle._

_Green Arrow has been meanwhile making his way toward Kid Flash's unconscious form in the crates, grabbing one of his wrists and dragging him so he's a much easier target. Not even taking a step back, Green Arrow nocks three arrows at once, each aiming roughly at a vital area. He pulls all the way back, and fires. Flash and Aquaman are watching Green Arrow aptly._

_The monitor room is silent except for four sets of heavy breathing, Green Arrow's catching horribly as the bowstring releases three arrows at once into a sixteen-year-old boy. Lethal accuracy, as always. Kid Flash is very dead, an arrow lodged pristinely at the base of his throat where a slow trickle of blood leaks. It rolls down the arrow before catching on the feathers and dripping off._

_The Flash lets out another raw sob at the sight of his nephew lying there. Red Arrow lets out a hoarse sounding 'no' next to him. Something twists in his chest, very harshly, cutting off air to his lungs and stuttering his thought process. It brings with it a stabbing pain and hollowness; one he had never known like this before. It's so raw and tangled, that it's physical. Yet, he still cannot turn away as the feed goes quiet._

_Aquaman turns around at the relative silence of the feed; and all eyes on the room are on the screen as the three Leaguers on there go around the room to check, double check, triple check that they are the only ones alive. As soon as it's confirmed, the three Leaguers stand up a bit straighter and turn slowly around to the door leading out of the room._

_Before he can take a step, Aquaman convulses, falling to the ground not long after. Flash and Green Arrow are affected similarly before they can turn around to check on Aquaman._

_The feed is quiet now, peaceful. Once again, no heartbeats are heard from three of the room's occupants._

_Superman thinks it feels eerie and mournful. Heavy, it's weight so immense it can still be felt hours later and rooms away._

_\---_

The hallway was a blur as Miss Martian and Rocket flew through it as fast as they could, going to find and help Robin and Superboy. They didn't have time to dwell on Zatanna, who said she was close behind, and Aqualad, who had gone to help Kid Flash and Artemis.

" _I'm amazed we're still alive,"_ says Artemis over the mind link. " _We have to keep moving if we want it to stay that way;"_ Replies Kid Flash.

Miss Martian sends some confidence through the link to everyone connected to encourage them. No harm in some extra encouragement.

The two teen heroes quickly come to a split in the hallway, one path leading to an observation deck, where they can hear metallic clangs and an occasional shout- Robin, probably, - and the other leading up toward a bridge going over the same observation deck. More fighting sounds come from up there, though the hits sound heavier. Superboy.

The two teens share a look.

" _I'll help out Superboy, you go to Robin,"_ Says Miss Martian quickly, before flying off. Rocket smirks knowingly before flying down the rest of the hallway, into the open area of the observation deck.

Rocket quickly comes in, seeing Robin frantically dodging hits from Hawkwoman. Before she can help however, Wolf tackles Hawkwoman from behind, causing her to hit her head on the floor, knocking her unconscious. Robin doesn't waste a single second, immediately placing the cure to the back of her neck.

Rocket sees something move out of the corner of her eye; Wonder Woman is approaching fast. She flies up to get a better angle, and manages to shield Robin just before he gets lassoed. Wonder Woman retracts her lasso.

Robin stares at Wonder Woman for a second, before announcing " _Now!"_ Over the mind link. Rocket takes her shield off Robin and focuses it on Wonder Woman instead, trapping her inside.

" _Can she escape your force bubble?"_ Asks Robin.

 _"Not if she keeps punching it,"_ Scoffs Rocket. " _The Kinetic energy only makes it stronger-!"_

At this, Robin rushes over to John Stewart, who is lying unconscious with Sphere whirring on top of him. " _But I'm stuck here; anything I do risks freeing her!"_ Rocket continues, as Robin places the cure on John Stewart's neck. Sphere Whirrs before shooting off, presumably to join Superboy. Wolf follows, bounding after her.

The next thing Rocket knows, Robin is shouting " _Look out!"_ And Batman is diving towards her, having jumped from above. She manages to fly out of the way in time as Robin jumps at him, and stays up in the air for safety as mentor and protégé fight intensely below her.

This is _Batman._ Batman and _Robin,_ two of the only heroes without powers, and yet two of the best all the same. Rocket can't help it if she drinks in their fight, one that seems more like a dance as it continues. Robin weaves and backflips around Batman's punches, but never gets a chance to throw one himself.

Without warning Superboy crashes through the ceiling then continues through the floor, creating a fairly big hole in the concrete. Superman follows quickly after. Robin ignores this, dodging a few more punches and handspringing further back. Batman approaches again, managing to land a hit, causing Robin to fly backwards. He lands lightly after a backflip, drawing his two eriscma sticks. He charges at Batman, getting in a few swings, all of them being dodged. Rocket can see Batman move at a frightening speed behind Robin as he lands on his feet again before he notices.

She winces as Batman lands what looks and sounds like a hard punch, sending Robin flying through the hole Superboy made in the floor. Batman jumps in after him, leaving Rocket alone with Wonder Woman.

She lowers herself a little bit, staring at the Leaguer in the bubble. Wonder Woman has stopped punching, obviously having worked out that it wouldn't help, and is instead standing quite still. She stares at Rocket, and Rocket stares back.

Rocket waits. Someone else will come to her aid eventually, and then they can finally get the cure into Wonder Woman. Above her on the bridge overlooking the observation deck, she can hear some vague noises that must be coming from Miss Martian and whoever she's fighting. Rocket's concentration doesn't waver however, as she needs full awareness to keep up her bubble.

After the longest and most intense few minutes of her life, she notices it has gone quiet. She doesn't really know when that happened, but the kinetic energy powering her bubble is quickly wavering and Wonder Woman has not moved at all. Her bubble will collapse soon if someone doesn't come.

" _Hello? A little help!"_ She tries through the mind link, but gets nothing, no answer. She absently wonders where Zatanna is. She had said she was right behind them, so where was she? Rocket could seriously use the help.

It is quickly made apparent that Rocket will have no choice but to take on Wonder Woman by herself very soon, and she would rather have the advantage of choosing when to do that than wait until her bubble goes out on its own. There is nowhere she can go without Wonder Woman knowing, so she just floats up as high as she can and lets the bubble go.

Wonder Woman wasn’t expecting the bubble to go out on its own, and so she reacts slower than she usually would. Rocket takes this split second of shock to float down behind her and touch the cure to her neck.

Wonder Woman whirls around and throws a hard punch, sending Rocket swirling through the air.

This is a fight Rocket has no chance of winning, so instead of engaging, she straightens herself and flies as fast as she can in the opposite direction to Wonder Woman.

She doesn't know where she's going, only that she needs to keep Wonder Woman away from her for at most, ten entire minutes. A single second has never seemed so long. She flies down a random hallway, passing several empty rooms that she doesn't know the purpose of, dread settling in her stomach as she hears Wonder Woman nearing. She turns into another connecting hallway and flies faster.

The two fly around the watchtower for what feels like to Rocket to be hours, but had to be less than five minutes because it's not long enough.

Without warning, Rocket is hit from behind with a punch harder than the one before. This one is aimed down, sending her crashing to the floor. Adrenalin races through her veins as she rolls quickly out of the way of a follow up punch, standing up and preparing to take off again.

Only, she finds she can't take off at all.

Every other thing she is thinking is overtaken by complete horror as she spots her belt, broken from the crash lying where she had landed.

 

\---

 

_Wonder Woman watches herself on the screen as she walks forward while Rocket steps back at the same pace. Rocket keeps glancing desperately at her belt._

_Wonder Woman knows what's going to happen before it does, and she screws her eyes shut in anticipation, gritting her teeth so hard she swears one cracks. She can feel Icon go still from across the room, and a wave of guilt and grief crashes into her so hard her breath stutters._

_Wonder Woman on the feed dives forward, grabbing Rocket by the shoulders. She makes a fist, and brings it down onto Rocket's head so hard that a slight crunch is heard, even form the distance of the camera recording._

_Wonder Woman cringes heavily at the sound, turning away from the screen even though her eyes are still closed. Her face burns with shame, hot tears rolling down her cheeks and dripping off her chin. She has killed this girl, and caused so much grief to the man across the room, not no mention broken her hero's code in the worst way possible. When you kill someone, you end more than one life._

_The Wonder Woman on the feed feels none of this, and holds Rocket in her grasp for another few seconds. When she doesn't move, she lowers her to the ground on her stomach and holds two fingers to her neck. When Wonder Woman stands up, everybody knows she is dead. Superman especially, as the echoing silence from the teen flips his stomach. He's starting to expect silences where there should never be any._

_Wonder Woman barely gets halfway across the floor before she convulses and falls backwards, landing on her back. The cure has finally integrated fully into her nervous system, mere seconds too late._

_Icon sobs, and Wonder Woman has never felt so ashamed and unworthy of calling herself an Amazonian, let alone a member of the Justice League._

_Nobody in this room is worthy._

_\---_

It takes a few minutes for Miss Martian to fly up several flights of stairs, coming up to the long bridge above the observation deck where Rocket and Robin should be. She takes a mental sweep of the area, and sure enough, both Rocket and Robin are underneath her where they should be, along with three Leaguers. She can feel Wolf and Sphere quickly rising up to come and help her and Superboy. Miss Martian falters a bit. Three Leaguers? Maybe they needed her help more than Superboy did.

Her thought process doesn't have a chance to go farther as Superboy flies past her, having taken a heavy hit from Superman. She scans the room mentally again, this time focusing on those closest to her. There; her uncle is next to Superman, both of them advancing slowly on Superboy.

She camouflages herself and flies silently over behind the two Leaguers, a chip each ready in her telepathic grasp. But before she can place them, Sphere and Wolf fly out of the stairwell and Sphere crashes violently into her uncle, sending him back a fair way. She turns straight around and crashes into Superman as well, though this time on top of him, grinding him into the ground as much as she can.

Miss Martian takes advantage of her uncle's disorientation, nearing him silently from behind. He is not fooled however, and morphs his face into the back of his head and grabs her. In retaliation, she morphs into her white Martian form so she can focus all her energy on the fight.

 _"Sorry uncle J'onn" s_ he says, staring him in the eye. " _you leave me no choice,"_ before her eyes glow red and she sends waves of flame toward him through her mind. He screams in pain, but she can't let herself feel guilty; this is not her uncle, this is a mind-controlled puppet that needs to be stopped to _save_ her uncle. Once he is trembling and gripping his head, she places the cure-o-tech into him with no problem.

The next thing she knows, she's hit -really, _really_ hard- and crashing into the wall and then bouncing along the floor. She thinks she blacks out for a second; that was the hardest she's ever been hit in her life; it must have been Superman.

She's proud of Superboy for not screaming out her name in rage like he usually does.

He does, however, take a reckless dive at Superman, who dodges and parries it easily, punching Superboy downward and sending them both crashing several floors down, past Robin and Rocket and landing who knows where. She feels her rarely seen rage flare up at that, and gets up quickly, not bothering to focus her form into her human-like one. She needs as much power she can get, and it will do no good wasting it on things like that.

While her uncle is still disorientated from the fire, she hits him with it again, this one knocking him unconscious. She doesn't relax however, as she can feel two more mental presences coming at her from the other end of the hallway. To her slight worry, both are Leaguers, but she quickly quashes that in favour of determination. She has to beat them, for the League and the Team.

Red Arrow and Hal Jordan come running and flying respectively around the corner, most likely having heard the massive commotion caused by Superboy and Superman. They both spot her, and spot her uncle next to her, and she can see them put the pieces together as Red Arrow nocks a flame arrow and Hal Jordan's ring starts to glow.

Miss Martian doesn't waste time; her Martian form isn't very aerodynamic, so she sticks to the ground and instead flickers on her camouflage just in time to dodge a fiery arrow as it whizzes past her. She sends out a wave of confusion; both Red Arrow and Hal Jordan falter and hold their heads briefly as a result, and Miss Martian takes the opportunity to dash behind them and quickly give the cure to each of them.

Hal Jordan recovers fist, rising up and forming a giant green bubble around her. Red Arrow comes to his senses soon after, and nocks two more flame arrows. She sends a concentrated psychic blast at Hal Jordan, and he releases the bubble as he goes flying into the wall. Red Arrow fires immediately, this time hitting his mark, and Miss Martian screams mentally as her Martian flesh burns against two flame arrows, sending her stumbling back and collapsing to the ground. Red Arrow advances, nocking more arrows; Miss Martian dimly notes that these ones are explosive, and for the first time, a wave of fear hits her. Her long, white Martian limbs won't listen to her, and she ends up rolling awkwardly to the side to avoid another arrow instead of getting up like she wanted.

The explosion from the arrow was close to her, and the searing heat from it makes her scream in her mind again. She scrabbles mentally; another telepathic blast is sent, this one wider, but weaker. It sends Red Arrow stumbling back, and the next explosive arrow he was nocking falls out of his hands. She sighs mentally in relief. She closes her eyes and focuses harder; sensing Hal Jordan and Red Arrow in her mind, and sending sharper blasts their way. Hal Jordan shoots up to the ceiling, successfully dodging it, but Red Arrow is hit, getting sent back into the wall.

Miss Martian stands up, struggling. She can do this.

Hal Jordan creates a glowing green spear out of his ring, and Miss Martian is forced to change her form to something faster and easier to move to dodge it. It's with her familiar green-human form that she does so, floating up and weaving through the air to avoid very accurate stabs and slashes with the spear. She builds up telepathic energy in her head as she dodges, preparing to release it all at once and knock both of them unconscious.

Before she can however, she notices Red Arrow's mind shift, and she turns to see what he's doing.

He's got three flame arrows nocked, aimed right at her, and he's much closer to her than she realised.

 

\---

 

_Red Arrow starts to laugh; a crazy, horrible, broken laugh as he on the screen releases the three flame arrows. Miss Martian manages to dodge-_

_Mostly._

_Her body twists out of the way, but her left arm is slower than the rest, and all three arrows hit it dead-on. Miss Martian lets out a screech of agony, so high and powered up with telepathic energy that the lens of the camera cracks, and the next few seconds are blurred with static as the camera adjusts. When it does, Miss Martian is on her knees, moaning in pain and staring with wide eyes and frantic breathing at a splatter of ash and black tar-like substance to her left. She clutches where her left arm was with her right arm, and her hand is covered in the thick, black substance as it drips steadily from the open, fresh wound. She's in too much pain and shock to avoid the glowing green spear that descends upon her._

_Red Arrows's laughs mould down into chocked sobs, and he takes his bow and quiver of arrows from his back and throws them across the room. Nobody moves to pick them up, and his face falls into his hands as he continues to sob harder. Martian Manhunter does not cry; but his posture hunches over terribly and the whole room suddenly feels ten times worse as he unknowingly broadcasts his grief._

_The next few seconds of the feed passes quickly, with Hal Jordan's glowing green spear flinging into Miss Martian in multiple places, the wet thump of flesh being pierced the only sound from the monitor. Miss Martian lets out a gasp of pain at each one, but is still too much in shock to make sounds for the pain she must be feeling. Hal Jordan sees that the Martian is not dying, and changes his spear into a classic, pointed sword._

_It takes one more fast, close range stab right in her stomach for Miss Martian to let out one more feeble gasp and lie on her side, curling in on herself as the thick, black liquid that covers everything starts to leak from there too and finally slows. Her form morphs back into her white Martian true form, no mental commands left telling her to keep up her human one._

_Martian Manhunter's emotions crash into everyone again at this, making Wonder Woman and Flash start to sob again, while Red Arrow lowers to the ground on his knees, wailing in agony. Batman doesn't appear to be affected, but Superman hears his breath hitch in his lungs and his heart skip a beat. He can't dwell on this however, as his own grief combined with Martian Manhunter's is eating at him, making the tears that had been building up finally break through his in-control facade. He sinks lower in his seat as he starts to sob and wail, joining the sounds of other Leaguers joining him._

_Hal Jordan and Red Arrow on the screen approach the mutilated form, standing over her. Neither of them know how to take a Martian pulse, so they just stand there and wait for movement. The room stays deathly still however, and they both eventually decide that she must be dead, for even when unconscious, wounds continue to bleed at a steady pace while hers are going so sluggishly they may as well not be going at all._

_Both of them turn mechanically and leave the screen, making their way to the monitor room where they will stand and do nothing until the cure takes full effect. Martian Manhunter on the feed is now floating serenely in place, adding to the stillness of the image._

_\---_

Robin flies through the hole in the floor, a shout of pain echoing after him. He manages to do a backflip in mid-air and land on his feet, right next to Superboy, who is just standing up after a probably hard punch form Superman. Robin can't help the little flip of nerves his stomach does. This is life or death, and he's fighting _Batman;_ he knows there's no way he'll win by himself, so he turns to Superboy, who is in the same position. Protégé and mentor, protégé significantly weaker than mentor, no chances at winning alone.

"We're not gonna beat 'em one-on-one!" Yells Robin to Superboy, not through the mind link, too distracted to think to use it.

"Plan B then!" Replies Superboy determinedly, and Robin mentally kicks himself for not thinking of that. He runs to Superboy who picks him up by the arm just as Batman and Superman glide down from above, and swings him around twice before letting him go, sending him flying into Batman's descending figure. Robin kicks out as he does this, hitting Batman directly in the chest and causing them both to fly backwards into the wall. Batman hits it hard, hard enough to send bits of concrete flying and even let out a grunt of pain, and Robin feels a wave of guilt wash over him.

" _Sorry Bruce,"_ He thinks, but not through the mind link. On the way down he touches the cure-o-tech to Batman's neck, breathing a sigh of relief when he knows his mentor will be okay. Batman hits the ground hard and Robin leaps off him, knowing that Batman will only be knocked out for a few seconds at most, the insane training combined with the mind control being enough to make sure he doesn't stay down. Not wasting any time, Robin watches as Superboy dives at Superman and manages to trap him against the wall with both arms struggling to restrain him.

"Are you sure about this?" Robin asks as he runs to their side, fishing in his belt for the piece of Kryptonite he had collected from the Batcave earlier.

"DO IT!" Yells Superboy, and Robin admires his guts as he holds the piece out, close, but not close enough to cause serious harm. Superman's eyes widen and Superboy's grip loosens, both of them falling to the floor and grunting in pain, Superman completely but Superboy only to his knees. Robin runs up to Superman and places the cure, the worry that they might fail that had been niggling at the back of his mind fading as he watches it absorb into the Kryptonian's skin. He doesn't lower his guard however; as he puts the Kryptonite back in his belt, he hears movement from behind him, and before he knows it, he's stumbling back again from one of Batman's hard punches. He doesn't have time to straighten himself before Batman hits him again, right across the face, and Robin knows that's going to bruise and Bruce will hate himself for it later. Batman hits him a third time, causing him to fall backwards and land the most graceless landing he has ever landed. He hears a cry of rage from somewhere nearby, and then Superboy tackles the advancing Batman away from Robin, giving him a chance to stand up and draw his eriscma sticks.

Batman throws Superboy off easily with some complicated manoeuvres that are too fast to make out properly; after all, Batman has trained for every scenario, including fighting off Kryptonians. Robin charges while Batman is still distracted, leaping over his head and doing a flip in mid-air so that he has a good angle to land a solid hit with the sticks. Batman turns to him as he lands, and Robin steels himself for a lot of dodging.

" _Superboy,"_ Robin tries through the mental link. He gets a grunt in reply. " _We have to try and knock him out; I'm not strong enough to do it, but you are, so I'll distract him while you go for his head from behind- not too hard though!"_ He adds on hurriedly. Superboy agrees, and Robin turns back to Batman, who is now swinging another fist at him that he dodges.

This continues for a little while; Robin dodges and weaves past Batman, who doesn't even look tired, while Superboy repeatedly launches himself at Batman only to be dodged or miss as Batman moves out of the way. Robin keeps an eye on Superman, and shouts a warning to Superboy when he sees him start to move.

Superboy doesn't move fast enough, and the next thing he knows Superman is there, faster than the human eye can see, tackling Superboy out of the way and starting to hit.

Robin's eyes widen at this, and he falters minutely; but even that is enough for Batman to grab him by the collar of his cape and lift him up. Robin makes choking noises that are drowned out by the sound of Batman growling and Superman and Superboy scuffling behind him. He suddenly feels lighter, and realises with horror that Batman has ripped off his utility belt and is twisting it in his hand; Batman lets him go and Robin gasps for breath as he sees Batman _twist_ his hands and his utility belt break clean in half. Robin catches his breath faster after that, charging in rage with his sticks drawn. Knocking Batman out is no longer an option, so he has to keep him distracted for the rest of the time.

Robin's charge is sloppy, and Batman catches his wrists easily, twisting them and forcing him to drop his sticks. Robin struggles to get out of the grip of steel; Batman can grip _hard_ if he wants to.  Robin finally breaks out with a grasp, and when he angles around to pick his eriscma sticks back up, Batman kicks him in the stomach and sends him sprawling a fair way from where they are. Robin stands up, and to his horror he finds that Batman has managed to kick him into a corner, and as Batman advances, there's nowhere he can run to defend himself.

For the first time since meeting him, Robin is truly afraid of his friend, his mentor, his _father_. Batman does not stop advancing, and soon looms over Robin before grabbing him by the throat.

Robin lets out a sob as he realises that there's nothing he can do, Superboy and Superman still struggling in the background.

 

\---

 

_A little part of Batman's steely facade crumbles when he hears Robin on the feed let out that small sob, and he can feel his heart getting stabbed and breaking. His outside demeanour doesn't change, or if it does it’s so minute nobody will notice, but on the inside, he wails in agony. His son. His son. His son._

_Batman on the feed lifts Robin up by the throat, and Robin kicks and struggles. Batman thrusts his head against the wall, causing Robin to make a strangled noise, before he goes quiet and still, the whites in his mask nearly fully closed. Batman drops Robin like a sack of bricks, and he slumps against the floor, unconscious. His chest is still rising- he's still alive._

_Taking his focus off Robin for now, Batman turns toward Superman and Superboy who are still having a very destructive fight a short way away. He walks over to Robin's broken utility belt and rummages around the pockets; the contents spill over the floor, smoke bombs, rebreathers, a grappling hook, some batarangs, and numerous other random gadgets and trinkets that could be useful in the most trying situations. Batman doesn't stop until he gets to the lead-lined pouch that holds the glowing green rock of death to all Kryptonians._

_Batman stands up, and Superman freezes from where he had been diving at Superboy. Superboy struggles in confusion for a moment, before Batman advances and he starts to feel the first signs of Kryptonite sickness, just like earlier when Robin had used it. This time, however, Superman has the sense to fly up, up, and well away from the green rock; Batman ignores him and advances faster, making sure Superboy can't escape._

_Superboy, who was lying on the ground in the first place, can't get up. He takes deep breaths as Batman comes near, cringing in pain when he kneels down, the Kryptonite centimetres away from his face. Batman kicks him over so his back is facing the ceiling and his limbs lay spread-eagled._

_Superman takes in a sharp breath at the image of his clone in such a weak position, against the only thing he doesn't really have a hope of beating. His chest fills with... something. Something not pleasant. A terrible, pulling guilt, regret even, as on the feed Batman tightens his fist over the green rock and thrusts it down into the base of Superboy's neck, twisting to make it go deeper._

_Superman feels sick, as if the Kryptonite were in front of him in real life, not on a monitor screen. He hears Batman make an odd choking noise next to him, quiet enough that anyone else would have missed it._

_Superman on the feed however, remains impassive, floating a good distance away and watching with cold eyes. He lands far away from his clone as the veins around his neck start to turn yellowish green._

_Batman, confident that Superboy won't get up again, turns back to Robin. Now that he doesn't have to worry about Superboy..._

_He advances quickly, pulling something out from his utility belt. When it flashes in the light, the whole room can see that it's a batarang. He leans down, and picks several up from where they had come out from Robin's belt._

_Batman can't bring himself to turn away as he watches himself advance on his son. He finds... he doesn't want to turn away. He needs to see this... his boy's final moments, before getting killed by his hand. He needs to see it. He needs to._

_So… so he never, ever lets anything like it ever happen again._

_Batman thinks he deserves this crushing feeling he has; he deserves it and so much more. He deserves to get expelled from the Justice League. He deserves to get arrested. He needs to be punished for what he did to his boy, his son, while he was so helpless, and only trying to help them, they didn't deserve his help, he's too good for them and he didn't deserve it, he's dead he'll never see him again and never get to say how proud he is and how much he loves him it's his fault he's dead he's dead he did it he did it he did it-_

_Batman grips his head as Superman gently places a hand on his shoulder._

_"Maybe you should look away," suggests Superman in a low voice. "Nobody will judge you, w… w-we've all lost someone-"_

_Batman turns to face Superman, and Superman goes quiet immediately.  He has never felt or seen grief so powerful from only a single look, even if the look is cowled. Superman keeps an eye on Batman as he turns back to the screen._

_Batman on the screen picks up Robin again, by the collar, and Robin stirs. The whites in his mask widen as he sees Batman directly in front of him, but he doesn't seem to be fully aware, as he smiles slightly and relaxes in the grip. He realises something's wrong when Batman doesn't put him down, and then snaps to full awareness as the whites in his mask widen even more and he begins to struggle._

_Batman takes one of the batarangs he picked up from Robin's belt, and starts to saw at the Kevlar uniform on his protégé's chest. Robin struggles even more, and gasps when the sharp edge of the batarang cuts into his skin, having finally broken through. Batman sees this and cuts deeper, blood welling up at the edges and spilling over when he lifts it._

_Batman discards the bloodied batarang, continuing to carve tears in the Kevlar in order to expose enough skin for what must be the end goal with a clean one. Once that one bloodies, he discards it too, and pulls out another one. He does this a few more times until he gets to the last one he picked up from the floor out of Robin's belt. With this one, he finishes tearing enough Kevlar, and takes out his last batarang; one he pulled from his own belt, not Robin's. Robin's breathing can be heard as frantic beneath Batman's restraining hold._

_Superman glances sideways at Batman through the teary sheen over his eyes._

_"Why do y... why do the batarangs keep getting discarded?" He asks carefully. Batman does not answer. He doesn't even hear Superman, which is probably for the best because if he had, he wouldn't have forgiven that little slip of the tongue. He stares at the screen, not having blinked since it started. He tells himself this is why he's started crying._

_The gasps and small whimpers from Robin fill the monitor room as Batman lifts the batarang._

_In one last act of desperation, Robin screams._

"Dad, NO!" _He screeches, quickly followed by the ugly squelching of blood and flesh and bone being pierced when the batarang hits its mark, right in Robin's heart. Batman twists, just to be sure._

_Robin makes a mangled, pain filled-wail, convulsing upwards and shaking in Batman's grip. It doesn't take long for him to let out one final loud gasp, before he falls limp and still._

_Superman has heard silence from this teen's chest twice over, and it hurts the most the third time._

_Batman on the monitor turns and leaves to head to the monitor room, Superman flying after him, where they will later collapse in a random hallway about halfway there._

_Batman watching the feed follows, turning and leaving the monitor room in silence._

_\---_

END PART 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so obviously, this story is meant to be an alternate version of Auld Acquaintance. There are a few differences/things that should be made known if you missed them or didn’t quite understand them in the story:  
> \- The cure takes 5-10 minutes to cause the recipient to go unconscious, and for the healing process to start. This is why the Team left Black Canary in the Bio-ship.  
> \- Upon being given a cure, if the recipient sees they are alone, they have programming that forces them to go toward the monitor room. If they have a target, they will attempt to eliminate it before going there.  
> \- The healing process takes at least a few hours to complete after the recipient gets knocked out after the 5-10-minute time frame  
> \- Red Arrow did not manage to avoid getting re-infected, meaning he wasn't fighting against the league with the Team. This means that he had to get healed somehow. In the show, he, Red Tornado and Black Canary manage to heal Hal Jordan, but that obviously couldn't happen here as Red Tornado and Black Canary are out for the count as well as Red Arrow. So, since those two are technically still wandering around the watchtower in this version, I had Miss Martian take care of them.  
> \- The Team did manage to transfer Red Tornado into his human-robot body, which they left in the Bio-ship with Black Canary to keep an eye on her. They brought his old robot-body in hopes that they could leave it there for repairs afterwards.  
> \- And finally, the League was not limited by Klarion's less than adequate knowledge of their skills.


End file.
